


Sounds like a plan

by LittleTurtle95



Series: TEENAGERS, BEWARE [1]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Christmas Fluff, First Kiss, Idiots in Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, No Angst, POV Richie Tozier, Pining, Rated T for Trashmouth, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris Are Best Friends, Richie Tozier is a Mess, Snow Day, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Ugly Holiday Sweaters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:27:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22107841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleTurtle95/pseuds/LittleTurtle95
Summary: TEENAGERS, BEWARE OF THE “FRIEND” OF YOUR OWN SEX WHO:1.    Is too “nice” to be true.2.    Wants to spend time with you alone.3.    Proposes that you be roomates and sleep in the same bed.4.    Writes you love notes as to a sweetheart.5.    Directs the conversation into intimate matters.6.    Wants to touch the private parts of your body.THESE ARE SOME OF THE TRADEMARKS OF HOMOSEXUALITY“Do you know how it sounds to me, Stanny the Manny?”“I don’t know… stupid maybe?”Richie smirked, fully ignoring Stanley’s outrageous answer, like he didn’t mean it in the slightest.“This, Stanley… sounds like a plan.”“To me, it’s just bullshit.”
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris
Series: TEENAGERS, BEWARE [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1791370
Comments: 18
Kudos: 252





	Sounds like a plan

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is for the It Fandom Secret Santa 2K19, specifically for @eddiekazier.
> 
> The prompts were: young!reddie, reddie's first kiss, reddie at New Year or Christmas
> 
> Hope you enjoy ❤️
> 
> P.S. thanks to the lovely Sabrina for the beta read!

“Do you know how it sounds to me, Stanny the Manny?” 

“I don’t know… stupid maybe?”

Richie smirked, fully ignoring Stanley’s outrageous answer, like he didn’t mean it in the slightest. 

“This, Stanley… sounds like a plan.”

“To me, it’s just bullshit.” 

Richie didn’t answer. Instead, he took a piece of paper from his pocket and put it on his bed, where he was laying with his best friend.

“Just because I found it in church, it doesn’t mean it’s bullshit, Stan.”

“It isn’t bullshit because you found it in church, how much of an asshole do you think I am? It's bullshit because it is, you can’t tell someone is gay based off this. And it’s meant to be homophobic, not to check on your crush.”

Richie shushed him and rolled his eyes. “Shut up Stan, we have to figure this out. I need to know if Eddie is into me and I’ll use this Gay Bible to help in my research.”

“Gay Bible? It’s the opposite! Act-” he sighed mid sentence. “You know what? This is pointless. Fine, I’ll help you with this stupid plan just to make you shut up. But if all of these things apply to Eddie or none of them do, it means nothing. You know why? Because this. Is. Bullshit.”

They looked down at the paper, Stan in frustration, Richie’s eyes filled with hope.

**_Teenagers, beware of the “friend” of your own sex who:_ **

_1\. Is too “nice” to be true._

_2\. Wants to spend time with you alone._

_3\. Proposes that you be roomates and sleep in the same bed._

_4\. Writes you love notes as to a sweetheart._

_5\. Directs the conversation into intimate matters._

_6\. Wants to touch the private parts of your body._

**_These are some of the trademarks of homosexuality_ **

“You can already wipe off the first one, Eddie is never nice.” Stan huffed, still unconvinced.

“Maybe he isn’t nice with you, _Straniel_. To me, he’s the softest in the world!” 

“Yeah, sure.” Stan deadpanned, refusing to even argue about that. “Now that we've established this, can we go to the Arcade or not?”

The next day, Richie woke up with a hopeful smile on his face. Today was the day. Winter break started, and the Losers were going to meet in the morning at the clubhouse to discuss their plans, and they'd finally leave for Ashland, Maine in the afternoon.

Beverley's aunt had a cottage there, and the blessed woman offered it to the Losers for the holidays. 

It was the last year they were probably going to spend Winter Break together, and Stanley’s words from four years prior now echoed in all their minds, screaming at them to spend time together; the more the better. 

_“Do you guys think we’ll still be friends when we’re older?”_

_“Why wouldn’t we be?”_

_“Do any of your parents still hang out with their friends from middle school? I mean, things might be different then. We all might be different.”_

_“We’ll always be friends. I don’t think that just goes away because we get older.”_

_“Yeah Stan, come on. You don’t have to be so… sad.”_

That was it. Richie knew this was one of their last chances to spend time together; probably his last chance to be with every one of the Losers at once – they were going to split up for college soon – and most of all, his last chance to be near Eddie for more than a couple of hours straight, and try to find out if his was an hopeless unrequited love or they had a chance.

He jumped off the bed and took his trusty paper from his desk, the one he had over analyzed with Stan the day before, and held it for dear life, going down to have breakfast. His parents were both off for work, but they had left some freshly baked gingerbread men for him.

He hummed happily and put one in his mouth without even biting it. He was feeling slightly worried, but excited, nonetheless. 

Today he was going to find out. He had to. He glanced at the clock and grinned. He had to finish breakfast soon and run to the clubhouse. Some of the others were probably already there. 

_“I love winter break!”_ he thought, eating another gingerbread man contentedly. 

When he dressed up, he threw on his favourite Christmas sweater – the one with reindeers blatantly mating and _I've been naughty_ written on it (Eddie hated it) – a pair of jeans, and his big coat. He ran over until he was right outside the clubhouse, bouncing in excitement, as he waited to find the courage to finally go inside.

 _“What if he doesn’t like me back? What if it’s all just me?”_ he thought, biting his lips. 

But it couldn’t be just him. Even Stanley told him several times to man up because Eddie clearly was into him, and Stan never lied to make him feel better. Richie liked Stan because he always told the truth, no matter how it was disappointing.

He sighed heavily and opened the trap-door, trotting inside. As soon as he was in, he heard his friends chatting excitedly about the trip, and he felt warm inside. 

There was music playing in the background coming from Mike’s old radio, Wham's _Last Christmas_ filling the air. He rolled his eyes slightly. He didn’t like Christmas songs, but they made his friends happy, so it was okay for now.

The small shelter was decorated for Christmas, Christmas lights fixed on the walls shining bright, a Santa poster Richie brought a few days prior and put it on the wall next to the hammock, and Christmas garlands around all of the columns, Beverly’s Christmas gift to the place.

“Fucking finally, dipshit!” he heard someone say, and Richie grinned. Eddie, of course, was the first one to acknowledge his presence. He was chilling in the hammock, one of his legs hanging down, his shoe nearly touching the ground. Richie's heart melted.

 _“He’s too nice to be true.”_ Richie thought instantly, even though he wasn’t sure if the fact that Eddie had been the first to address to him counted as nice. _Dipshit_ wasn’t exactly a nice word, was it?

“Heya Eds…” he answered, his voice uncertain, still deep in his thoughts. Eddie frowned, noticing something was slightly different from usual.

“Richie, we thought you weren't going to come at this point.” Stanley complained, and he shook his head.

“And miss the opportunity to annoy you more? Never, Stanny” he answered, shrugging.

“We w-were t-talking about how m-many cars we sh-should u-use.” Bill informed him.

“My dad will let me use the truck, Bill is going to have his, and we don’t know about Ben; he’s still bargaining” Mike explained with a smile.

“Oh, I’ll have mine for sure. I already told my parents, and it's okay with them. They won’t need it for Christmas. They’re hosting.”

“Okay, so we have at least three cars. I think we’re safe.” 

“I have some food supplies I can bring. My mom bought groceries when I told her we were leaving.” Ben said, smiling softly.

“I’ll bring the alcohol” Beverly grinned, and Richie took her hand and kissed her knuckles, kneeling in front of her.

“You’re my queen, miss Marsh” he said, and she chuckled. What they both didn’t see was Ben’s sudden frown. Everybody else did.

“Well?” Eddie asked, when the others started arguing about who was in charge of the blankets.

“Well what, Eds?” Richie asked, turning to face his friend. He freed himself from the coat and threw it on the floor. Eddie frowned but didn’t comment.

“Don’t call me Eds. God, I hate that sweater of yours!” he complained, rolling his eyes, then looked expectantly at him.

“What now?” Richie asked in confusion. He noticed Stanley side glancing at him and tried to play cool, failing miserably.

“Are you coming or not?” Eddie asked, furrowing his brows and looking slightly annoyed.

“Coming where?” he replied, and Eddie groaned.

“In the hammock, you absolute idiot, you’re always harassing me with your bad jokes in there, what are you waiting for this time?”

 _“Oh. Oh…”_ Richie thought, his cheeks flushing immediately. 

“Did you miss me because I was late, Eds?” he asked, joining him nearly pushing him straight on the floor.

“I absolutely did not!” the other groaned, and Richie winked.

He tried to look nonchalant but inside he was a mess. Eddie never asked him to join in the hammock, quite the opposite actually.

 _“What if he is trying to figure it out too? What if he thought it was his last chance just like me?”_ but he didn’t dare to assume something that big yet. 

He wondered if their hammock sharing would qualify as _proposes you two sleep in the same bed_ or _wants to spend time with you alone_ , hopefully both, but everything was so confusing.

“Are you okay, Richie?” he heard Eddie ask, but the image of his friend was blurred even with his glasses on. 

“Of course I am.” he managed to say, but it was a lie and everybody could see that. 

He closed his eyes and tried to relax. He could feel Eddie adjusting in the hammock next to him, and found his hand mindlessly reach for Eddie’s leg.

 _“I have to chill. I can’t keep doing this; I don’t even listen to what he says anymore.”_ he thought, breathing deeply. 

When he slowly opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Eddie’s gaze fixed on him with worry. For a moment everything else vanished, and he felt a rush of adrenaline taking control of him.

They both opened their mouths at the same time, trying to put their feelings into words, when Bill stumbled on the hammock, making them ugly fall on the floor.

“Bill, I’m going to fucking kill you!” Eddie yelled, and Bill started to run outside, laughing his lungs out, with Eddie following closer behind and cussing like a sailor.

The moment passed. Richie finally stood up whining like a kicked puppy and looked at Stanley with a frown. His friend shook his head with a judgemental glare.

“You have to quit it with this bullshit, Richie! You’re making things worse. Just tell him already.” he hissed, and Richie put a hand over his mouth to shut him up, panicked.

The eye roll he received in response was definitely well deserved and nobody looked like they were paying attention to them anyway.

After all the chaos had died down, they agreed to meet at five PM that afternoon and left, and by the time Richie had showed up at Bill’s place everyone was already there, as usual.

He pulled into the driveway and jumped out of the car.

“Heya, ladies and gentlemen. Are you ready to ride this train of mine?” he exclaimed with a wink, as he approached his friends. 

Mike smirked affectionately, but the others looked unimpressed. 

Eddie, the one he craved the reaction of the most, looked like he didn’t hear him. He looked… scared.

“Everything good, Eds?” 

“Don’t call me Eds.” he whispered automatically, then snapped back into focus. “Where the fuck were you? We were waiting for you, why do you have to always be late?” he said, slapping him on the back of his neck.

“Ouch! Calm down, tiger.” Richie whined, but at least it meant everything was back to normal.

“Yeah R-rich what w-were you d-doing? We have t-to leave.” Bill asked, helping Stanley push all the bottles in his trunk.

“I need my beauty sleep, Denbrough!” he said proudly, and Bev chuckled.

“It’s not like it’s working, is it?” Eddie asked with a grin.

“Well, fucking ouch. Just give me a break, Spaghetti!” he said playfully. He knew Eddie was joking, but he couldn’t help but think Stanley was right the day before. Eddie wasn’t nice to him, just like he wasn’t nice to anyone else. 

Maybe all of this was pointless. Maybe everything he thought they had was really just one sided after all.

“I think you look fine, Richie.” Ben said with a half smile, and Beverly cooed.

“See? That’s my man. Staniel, you’ve been replaced.”

“If I need to compliment your ugly ass to be a friend of yours I’m glad I’m not one, loser.” 

“Shut up, I know you love me. Loser yourself!”

Stanley opened his mouth to say something insulting, when Mike gently grabbed his shoulder and he shut it back immediately.

“If you've finished pretending you hate eachother, we can leave now. I think everything is settled in the cars.” Mike said with a smile, and Stanley didn’t roll his eyes at the interruption. Richie grinned.

“Okay, l-let's go.” Bill said. “Bev, d-do you want to c-come in the c-car with m-me?” 

Richie didn’t even hear Ben saying “I’m coming too, Bill!” because Eddie was suddenly in front of him, his two bags in hand.

“Excuse me” he said, furrowing his brows.

“Excuse you…?” Richie asked, Stanley face palmed behind him.

“How am I supposed to put these in your trunk if you’re blocking my way?”

Richie blinked a few times. “Are you… are you coming with me Eds?”

“ _Of course_ I am coming with you!” he said. It took a moment before Eddie looked like he realised what he had just said. A faint blush started spreading on his cheeks as he went past him and muttered “Don’t make me regret it and, for the love of God, don’t call me Eds!”

 _“Wants to spend time with you alone.”_ Richie thought, trying not to grin too much.

Bill, Ben and Beverly left in Bill’s car and Richie saw Stanley climbing on Mike’s truck. He winked at his friend, and Stan flipped him off.

Eddie got in the car with him, and he quickly put a mixtape on the radio.

“Oh no, tell me it’s not-” Eddie whined as Richie started the car. The rest of the sentence died on his lips as _Baby it’s cold outside_ started playing.

“What?” he asked, in confusion.

They always fought about what to listen during a long drive, Richie was a huge fan of rock music while Eddie preferred songs that were more melodic. 

For the most part, Richie said that holiday songs were dumb and pointless. Eddie, on the other hand, usually listened to them from November to February.

“My mom left the mixtape in the car. It’s hers” Richie lied. He made it for Eddie the year before and never gave it to him.

“We don’t have to listen to it if you don’t want to. It’s a long drive.” Eddie surprisingly said.

“You said _don’t make me regret it_ , and that’s what I'm trying to do.” Richie whispered, giving him a side look. He smiled.

Eddie smiled back. “Oh. Thanks.”

“Sorry if I snapped earlier, I had a rough day.” he added after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence. 

Dean Martin’s voice filled the car.

 _“Directs conversation into intimate matters”_ Richie repeated in his mind, trying to relax.

“What happened?”

Eddie shrugged. “The usual. My mom didn’t want me to come; I basically ran from home, that’s why I wanted to leave so soon.”

“I'm sorry, I didn’t know. I would’ve come earlier.”

“As you said, you didn’t know.”

As they passed the sign

_YOU’RE LEAVING DERRY. COME BACK SOON!_

Both felt like a weight just fell off their shoulders. Richie heard Eddie sigh in relief.

Richie thought he'd like nothing more, in that moment, than to pull over and kiss him senseless, but he didn’t. 

His next thought was that probably Eddie would never kiss him, even if he really did love him since he hadn't brushed his teeth that morning because he'd been running late. 

The third and last thought he had made him curse out loud.

“Fuck!” he gasped, and Eddie jumped. He reached for his inhaler with both his hands, shook it and triggered it.

“Are you fucking trying to kill me, Trashmouth?” he croaked, breathing deeply into it again.

“Sorry. It’s just… I forgot my toothbrush at home.” he hissed. 

And he cursed himself so hard in his thoughts, because fuck his teeth, and his dentist parents, but he knew he didn’t have a single chance with Eddie if he didn’t have a toothbrush.

Eddie shook his head and laughed. 

“What now?”

“You did not.”

“Yes, I’m telling you, I did. I’m that stupid!”

“You are that stupid and I know it. That’s why you have a toothbrush. I brought a spare one for you”

“You did _what_?”

“I knew you were going to leave it at home, and I’ll tell you why. You finished your bag of chips, you realised it was nearly five, you rushed to meet us, and you didn’t have time to brush your teeth – let me tell you, it’s disgusting – so you didn’t think about your toothbrush and left it at home.” 

Richie stared at the road for a moment, processing the informations. 

“That’s exactly what happened.” he admitted, more to himself than to Eddie. 

He asked himself if he really was such an open book for him and how many things Eddie had noticed about him that Richie didn’t know.

In that exact moment he realised that, love or not, his friend cared about him. He really did.

“I know that’s exactly what happened. That’s why I bought you one yesterday and put it in my fanny pack so I wouldn't forget it” Eddie said in agreement. “And it’s Wonder Woman themed!” 

“Thanks.” Richie whispered, touched. There was no other things he could say without revealing too much.

“You’re welcome. If I don’t take care about your dumb ass, who will?”

 _“He’s too nice to be true”_ , Richie thought dreamily, warmth filling his chest. “I don't know. Probably no one. I’d end up on the streets.”

“Yeah you totally would!”

“I’m lucky I got you, then.”

“You should say that way more than you do, asshole.”

The first snowflakes of the day started to fall down, slow and lazy from the grey clouds, and Richie slowed down. He didn’t have trouble driving when it was snowing, but he knew Eddie got easily scared when he was in a car and weather conditions weren’t optimal.

He didn’t mind spending more time with him alone before joining the others, either.

The song ended and _So this is Christmas_ replaced it. Eddie was humming the song mindlessly and Richie had to force himself to stop staring, both because it would have been too obvious and because he was driving.

“I want you drunk today, Spaghetti.” he said, feeling the need to say something just to distract him from his thoughts.

“Well you’re going to be extremely disappointed then.”

“Come on Eds, just for once! Beverly brought a lot of alcohol, you can’t leave it all to us! We'll die!”

“More like if _I_ drink I’ll die. With all the drugs I take I’m sure it would destroy my liver.”

“Weren’t them all just – how did you call them? – gazebos?” Richie casually asked, but as soon as he finished the sentence, he realised there was something wrong with the words. He frowned. 

Eddie quickly shook his aspirator and inhaled, his lungs burning.

“What… what did you just say?” he asked, voice shaking.

“I don’t know.” he whispered. It was like something was screaming inside of his head but he couldn’t understand the significance of those words. “I don’t even know what the hell it means”

“It means _bullshit_ ” Eddie whispered like he didn’t say it consciously.

“What-”

“I have no idea.” 

Nobody spoke for a while, but the farther they were from Derry, the better they felt. In a few minutes, they didn’t remember what they were talking about anymore. 

They'd shifted back to normal, finally at ease. 

When, two hours later, they arrived in Ashland, the others had just parked their cars. Everything was covered in snow now, the whiteness was almost blinding. It was beautiful.

Mike was helping Bill move all the boxes inside, while Ben was busy sweeping the porch. Stanley was making everyone coffee in the kitchen and Beverly was smoking, keeping Ben company, when they approached them, looking curiously at the small cottage.

“Heya, losers!” Richie said with a smirk, jumping off the car and slamming the door.

“Did you get lost?” Bev said winking, the cigarette firm in his hand.

“It’s snowing, Bev. Everybody knows it’s safer to drive slowly when it’s snowing!” Eddie snapped, fixing his scarf around his neck. 

“Q-quit the b-bullshit and help m-me, Eddie.” Bill said, struggling with the box in his hands.

Richie barked out a laugh. “Don’t Eds, please, it’s so funny!”

“You two are monsters.” Mike said, looking sympathetically at Bill, and going straight in the house with a huge carton box that looked heavy.

Ben had offered to help, but he had shook his head with a smile.

“Well I see you are all busy, it would be a shame to disturb your hard work with our presence.” Richie smiled widely, and Bill cussed violently, trying not to drop the box on the ground.

“Yeah. Bye losers, we’re picking the bedroom.” Eddie Richie’s grabbing His wrist and pushing him in the house.

“Fuckers!” Bev giggled, even if she wasn’t exactly helping herself. Ben smiled softly at her. He didn’t care much about what the others were doing at the moment.

“Picking the bedroom?” Richie asked blinking, as his friend kept pushing him.

“Of course four eyes, we have to be the first to do it, I don’t want to sleep on a dirty bed, or in the coolest room, or in a fucking bunk bed, they’re dangerous! I need a warm room, preferably with a big window that we have to keep closed. It has to be near the bathroom, I don’t want to walk three miles if I need to go there during the night, there must…” 

Eddie kept rambling as usual while they explored the house. They crossed paths with Stan, who was going out with some coffee mugs, probably to help the others, and Richie looked at him with wide eyes, not listening to a word Eddie was saying, because when he heard he didn’t want a bunk bed his brain stopped dead.

 _“Proposes that you be roommates. And sleep in the same bed?”_ the last question was killing him.

“I think Eddie finally broke Richie.” Stan commented, handing a coffee mug to Mike, who accepted it with a warm smile, once he put his box on the couch.

“Th-thank God! He’s been in-in-insufferable lately!” Bill muttered, but he sounded amused.

“Do you think they’ll sort it out?” Bev asked, pulling a hand over Ben’s shoulders. The boy’s face became scarlet.

“I hope so” Stan said. “They’re so annoying”

“I think they’re cute” Mike commented, shrugging. He smiled and Stanley’s annoyed expression faltered.

In the meantime, Richie and Eddie were exploring the second floor, for the second time now – Eddie was quite of an indecisive type – when suddenly he huffed and pulled Richie into a nearby room by the arm.

“Okay, let’s just keep this one!”

“Ow!! What the fuck Eds-” But before Richie could finish the thought, he looked again at the room Eddie apparently just chose.

“Dude, wait, really? It looks like my grandparent’s bedroom!” Richie silently cursed himself for expressing what seemed to be a complaint. He wasn’t complaining, he was just confused.

It had to be Beverly’s aunt’s personal room. It was beautiful in an antique sort of way. Feminine as all hell, with embroidered pillows and frilly bedsheets, and pale pastel wallpaper and everything, but still beautiful. 

Like how he would’ve pictured a honeymoon suite. The thought brought a furious blush to his cheeks, as he choked on the feelings he had no idea how to articulate, or even classify. 

Eddie rolled his eyes. “I know it’s lame, but it’s the most comfortable and well-kept room in the house. It’s nice and clean, and super plush. Plus it’s temperature controlled, and-”

“No, no, it’s fine… Where am I supposed to sleep…?” Richie knew he was pushing his luck. Eddie would tell him just to sleep on the floor; that he wanted to stay in bed by himself. 

“Uhhh… I guess it’s not too different to sharing a hammock… If you promise not to be a dick about it, this bed is meant for two…” he said, shrugging, and for a moment Richie could swear on his mother Eddie was blushing 

“N-no, I… I mean, yeah… That’s fine.. I-it’s just like that- Yeah! Exactly like that!”

_“Proposes that you be roommates and sleep in the same bed. Eddie literally just did that exact thing! This can’t be misinterpreted, right? It’s literally impossible. It's exactly what happened. Is it?”_

“Richie? Earth to Richie! Are you okay?” Richie couldn’t tell if it was annoyance or concern he detected in Eddie’s voice.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine…”

“You sure you’re not coming down with something…? It is flu season, and God knows what shit you get into when I’m not around. You do look pale, and you’ve seemed pretty off all week, come to think of it…”

Richie was sure he looked even worse now that he heard those kind of words from him. Now Eddie thought he was sick! He was being polite at the moment, which was a mercy, but there was no way he’d let himself within 50 feet of him now that he thought he was a walking biohazard.

_“Shit”_

“No, I’m fine! Just, thinking, that’s all. Y’know, believe it or not, shit does go on in this dumb little brain of mine, Eds.”

“Don’t call me Eds and tell me what’s wrong, Trashmout.” Eddie’s voice was surprisingly soft, even if his eyes were determined.

 _“It’s now or never. Time to fucking grow a pair and ask him out. Nothing weird about it. Nothing too hard. ‘I like you, Eddie’. Four words.”_ Richie told to himself.

“Oh… just, stuff… stuff and things” he whispered awkwardly.

_“And fuck! Why did I say that? What’s wrong with me? Coward!”_

“You know, there’s another reason I picked this room… I saw something from the window…” Eddie spoke timidly, his words calculated. 

That was odd. Way off topic. Was Eddie even listening to him? Maybe it was better that he wasn’t.

“Here, don’t look now, just come with me!” 

Eddie took his hand and led him downstairs. Eddie. Took. His. Hand. 

_“Did he just took my hand? Did he just-”_

Richie didn’t even notice the satisfied look on Stanley’s face as he saw them going down the steps, or the way Bill smiled encouragingly at Eddie as they passed the door.

“W-wait, are we going outside? Don’t you want your jacket- I know you get-”

“Shut up! What’s that thing you always tell me? _Live a little and don’t be such a bitch?_ Besides, diseases are transmitted by pathogens, not temperature- much as temperature might increase one’s susceptibility to infection…” Eddie’s voice wavered at that last bit, but still, he continued to drag Richie into the snow-covered yard, through to a small structure up ahead. 

Richie thought he could hear him talk about diseases transmitted by pathogens all day long and never get bored even if he found it extremely gross.

Eddie led Richie up the stairs and stomped his foot, snow coming down from the little roof just a foot or two above them. 

“Gazebo.” 

“Huh?” 

Now Richie was confused. 

“That’s what you said in the car, earlier. That’s a gazebo, we’re under one precisely” Eddie explained calmly. His cheeks were starting to turn red, Richie didn’t know if it was because of the cold or because of something else entirely.

“Okay?” he said, blinking curiously.

“I don’t know why. But I know it was something else, what you meant with that word. I don’t know what exactly. I think it has something to do with my mom”

Richie grinned. “You know I love when you talk about your mommy”

Eddie grimaced “You’re disgusting and I won’t say a word more”

“No! Sorry! Sorry. I was joking. Ha ha. Very funny, Trashmout. Keep going, please” Richie said, and Eddie furrowed his brows.

A few seconds of Richie’s puppy eyes did it.

“Okay, listen, I saw this gazebo from the window and I took it as sign. We have to cut with this bullshit, Richie”

“Bullshit? Which-?”

“We go to the same church, you know. And there’s a piece of paper hanging from your pocket all day”

If it was possible to die for embarrassment, Richie was one hundred percent sure it was going to happen to him in the next few seconds. For a moment, he feared his knees were going to betray him and he was going to collapse on the floor.

“You saw it” he croaked, forcing himself to look away to pretend this wasn’t happening.

“Yes. I saw it. We cant keep doing this, it’s exhausting, listen Richie, I-”

Eddie struggled to control his breathing, cursing himself for having forgotten his inhaler now of all times. Richie stepped closer to face him, placing a steadying hand on his back.

“Hey, are you okay, man? Where’s your inhaler, I’ll-”

Sucking in one final breath of air, Eddie turned into Richie, and pressed a shaky kiss upon his lips. Having spent all the courage he could summon to initiate the kiss, Eddie pulled away quickly, waiting for something from the other boy.

“Oh...” Richie whispered breathlessly. 

But Eddie wouldn't dare to look in his direction. So Richie knew he had to make him. He pulled him in for another kiss, longer, more passionate, like he’d been practicing on his pillow in secret for weeks now leading up to this moment. 

He let their lips part, and their tongues meet, and his hands grab Eddie’s waist as he sighed into the kiss. 

The finally parted only when Eddie let out a quiet laugh. 

“I can’t believe it” he whispered, then, he smiled and added quickly, “I want to give you something”

Richie was looking at him completely lovestruck. His head was fuzzy and he felt a bit tipsy, the cold on his face was the only thing grounding him at the moment.

“Your Christmas present. I didn’t want to give it to you in front of the others, if you don’t mind. I know it’s not technically Christmas yet, but…” 

Richie took what Eddie was handing him, holding his breath. It was a little envelope.

 _“Writes you love notes as to a sweetheart”_ he thought, even if he knew it was pointless now.

He opened it slowly, his hands shaking. 

_This is for all the times I say I hate you, to remind you it could never be the truth._

There was a little doodle of them chilling in the ammock, legs entangled and looking at eachother. Richie could recognise some of Bill’s traits in the drawing, the boy probably helped out his friend a bit with it. It was wonderful.

Last but not least, at the bottom of the letter like a P.S., there were five circles with the word _Eds_ written in it.

“They’re _Eds concessions_ , you have five of them. I’m letting you call me that five times next year, without complaining. Every time you’ll do it, I’ll cross a circle” he explained, his voice getting lower and lower showing his embarrassment. “I know it’s dumb” 

“It’s not dumb. I love it, it’s-” he said, then he remembered something. “Wait, I have something to give you too”

He took a small red velvet bag from the back pocket of his jeans and gave it to him.

“Merry Christmas Eddie” 

The boy took it hesitantly and opened it immediately. When he found out what was inside, he frowned in confusion.

It was a key. With a small wooden keychain, the letters R+E carved on it.

He looked up to meet Richie’s gaze questioningly.

“They’re my keys. Well, _your_ keys. But they’re the keys of my place. My- my house” he said, struggling with words. “I asked my parents of course first, they said yes, you know they love you. We, hum, all do. Whatever” 

He sighed deeply and tried not to fuck it all up. “I know your house can be suffocating. It’s just… you don’t have to ask if you want to join us. Whenever you want, in the middle of the night, even if I’m not at home at the moment, anytime, really. You’ll always… have a home. With me” 

He bit his lower lip nervously and hoped it wasn’t too much or too weird, and soon Eddie was kissing him again, his hands on Richie’s hair, and Richie closed his eyes and reciprocated hungrily.

“Why did we wait so long?” Eddie panted, Richie still on his lips.

“I don’t know, you tell me. I’m the dumb one, it’s your fault” Richie whispered, briefly pulling over only to peck smaller kisses on his lips.

“You’re not, you’re very intelligent actually”

“Fuck, I should have recorded it”

“You should have” Eddie said smiling, then looked at him with something in his eyes Richie couldn’t quite place.

“About that list… there’s something else we didn’t check yet, did we?”

Richie thought about it for a second, memories of the paper flashing in his mind. When he finally understood what Eddie was referring to, his cheeks were on fire.

“Oh dear God” he cursed. This was really going to be the best Christmas of his entire life.


End file.
